The present disclosure relates to a remote control, a remote control system, and a remote control method capable of remote-controlling a plurality of home electrical appliances.
The present disclosure relates to a remote control, a remote control system, and a remote control method capable of remote-controlling a plurality of home electrical appliances.
In a home, various appliances such as television receivers, recorders, and audio equipments are used. Each of those appliances is capable of being controlled by a remote control. In general, one remote control is capable of controlling one appliance. However, in recent years, a so-called universal remote control is known. One universal remote control is capable of individually controlling a plurality of different appliances (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-44763 (paragraphs 0031 to 0034 and FIG. 8) (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1), and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-166193 (paragraphs 0029 to 0030 and FIG. 5) (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 2)).
According to Patent Document 1, a remote control sends a control-target device identification request signal to control-target devices. A control-target device, which has received the signal, transmits an identification signal to the remote control. The remote control receives the identification signal. In response to the identification signal, the remote control determines one device in a zone, which the remote control is capable of directly controlling. Then, the remote control executes functions to control the device.
According to Patent Document 2, a remote control detects the current location. The remote control compares the detected current location to pieces of location information of respective devices, which are stored in the remote control. The remote control determines a device located closest to the remote control as a control-target device.